A study determined which activities in a capstone course were perceived to be the most beneficial to course completers with regard to their first professional position after graduation. It also compared the quality of selected capstone activities to other junior/senior level courses in the College of Agriculture at Iowa State University. A random sample of 214 students--150 registered agriculture studies majors, 38 agricultural education majors, and 26 other majors--completed a questionnaire after taking a departmental capstone class required of all graduating agricultural studies majors. Part One of the questionnaire identified the benefits of the course to the first agricultural position of the completers. A five-point Likert-type scale was used that ranged from one (strongly disagree) to five (strongly agree). Part two contained 10 comparison questions asking respondents to compare selected experiential learning activities from the capstone course with other courses taken. Findings were as follows: respondents felt course activities were beneficial to them in their first professional position; a significant difference was found in the benefits of the capstone course to the respondent's first professional position when grouped by employment area; more recent graduates tended to value the perceived benefits slightly more; and the capstone course provided more or greater than opportunities and interactions than other junior/senior level agricultural courses. (Contains 15 references.) (YLB)